Squirrel Trap, What To Do When A Squirrel Nests in Your Home

Squirrel Trap, What To Do When A Squirrel Nests in Your Home – The grey squirrel population in  North West England has rocketed over the last 20 years to the degee that they are now a major pest species.
The grey squirrels which we see in our gardens (Sciurus carolinensis) are not native to Britain, having been imported here less than 200 years ago.
Like other members of the family Sciuridae, the Grey Squirrel is a scatter-hoarder; it hoards food in lots of small caches for subsequent recovery. Some caches are temporary, especially those made near the site of a sudden surplus of food.
Other caches are more permanent and are not used until many months later. It has been observed that each squirrel makes several thousand hoards each season. The squirrels have very accurate spatial memory for the positions of these hoards, and use distant and nearby landmarks to retrieve them. Smell is used once the squirrel

is within a short distance of the cache.
The nest of the grey squirrel is called a dray (or drey) and it is usual for the female to have two litters per year, with two to four babies each.
They are minor problems, rooting up bulbs and taking food intended for birds but can be major pests when they come into our houses.
It is increasingly common for pest controllers to attend homes where a nest has been constructed in a loft or attic space.
Squirrels are true rodents and as such have teeth which never stop growing; the word rodent coming from the Latin ‘rodere’ meaning ‘to gnaw’ and this they do extremely well.
It is rare to enter a roof space where a dray has been made and find that they have not chewed electrical wiring, indeed it is estimated that forty percent of fires without an obviously attributable cause may be started by rodents chewing wiring.
Unfortunately they can also chew through water-pipes, especially with the modern trend towards plastic piping.
As if that wasn’t enough, many household insurance policies specifically exclude damage caused by rodents so if a squirrel floods your home by chewing through a pipe in the attic you may find yourself without insurance cover.
Removing squirrels requires a professional, not least in as much as the law regarding squirrels restricts your options. You cannot simply buy a packet of rat poison from your local store and deal with them that way as you would be committing a criminal offence.
Furthermore you cannot trap them and move them some distance from your home, not only would removing a squirrel from the area of its food caches would probably condemn it to death by starvation, it is also a criminal offence under the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 under which it is illegal to release a grey squirrel in Britain.
That pertains also to rescuing, and releasing injured squirrels.
In the majority cases trapping is the option of choice and this must be done in a specified manner with routine, timed inspections of the traps.
Trapped squirrels are then despatched humanely.

That concludes this article Squirrel Trap, What To Do When A Squirrel Nests in Your Home

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Pest Control Cheshire

Cheshire Pest Control offer a rapid, discreet value for money service 7 days per week including wasps’ nests destroyed for just £29.50 unless you live in the post areas L. Ch, or CW in which case it is £39.50 and those prices are fixed by Cheshire Pest Control for 2009 unless specialist access equipment such as a scaffold is needed. Later in the season when the new queens are emerging it may be necessary to carry out additional work such as a fogging treatment to the roof space or attic but that is unlikely to be needed before the new queens start to emerge in mid-September. Until then £29.50 is a fixed price. Pest Control Cheshire also specialise in dealing with infestations of ants in the house and in most cases we can remove the infestation and issue a three year guarantee subject to satisfactory site survey. See our articles on ant infestation for further details (on the right hand side bar of this page). We cannot give costs for this over the phone as we need to see the property. All other pests are dealt with 7 days per week and we can usually provide a same day service for Pest Control in Cheshire although in a busy summer this may vary. If you have ants in the house we recommend dealing with them before June as that commences our busy period and until then we have a discount on our normal prices. Pest Control Cheshire Cheshire Pest Control Free Articles

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Most responsible home-owners and tenants will have buildings & contents insurance so that in the event of fire, flood or pestilence they will have cover for themselves and their………….wait a minute! Did I say pestilence?
Early last year I was called out to a local home, a pleasant modern detached house on a popular local development.
The owners had been away for a week’s holiday and whilst they were away little Mrs Nutkin had decided to build her nest ( a squirrel’s nest is called a dray or drey) in the loft of the property. Being a squirrel she was awfully good at chewing things and one of the things she decided to chew was the water

A closed bin lid is no protection

supply pipe to the header tank in the loft.
The young couple returned home to find the ceiling brought down, the house flooded and carpets and furniture ruined.
A nasty shock but at least they had insurance cover, they were always careful to ensure their cover was adequate……or so they thought!
Bad news was in store!
The vast majority of household insurance policies have a clause excluding damage by vermin, and as soon as they mentioned ’squirrel’ to their insurance company they immediately invalidated their claim leaving them pick up the cost of thousands of pounds worth of damage.
I wish I could say that this was a rare, isolated case but it isn’t.
As a point of interest here in the U.K. The law regarding squirrels is a little complicated.
Although the grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) is now endemic throughout virtually the whole U.K., it is still regarded in law as an illegal immigrant. It was imported from the United States and Canada in the 19th century and has gradually established itself throughout Britain.
However, despite the fact that they are common, it is still a criminal offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1984 to release a grey squirrel in the British Isles, so pest controllers trapping squirrels are not allowed in law to relocate them.
Unfortunately the grey squirrel is a carrier of Squirrelpox virus to which they themselves appear to be immune but the effect has been to devastate our native population of red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris), the ‘Squirrel Nutkin’ of fame, whose numbers are now down to a few isolated populations.
Squirrels are rodents, the word itself comes from the Latin “rodere” - ”to gnaw, eat away” and this they do very well indeed, especially electrical wiring and water pipes when they enter your home.
If you have squirrels in the garden be afraid, be very afraid!

Fascinating grey squirrel facts

· Their scientific name is Sciurus carolinensis.
· They were introduced from USA /Canada to approximately 30 sites in England, Scotland and Wales from 1876–1930.
· Grey squirrels eat seeds, buds, flowers, shoots, nuts, berries and fruit from many trees and shrubs. They also eat fungi and insects, and occasionally birds’ eggs and fledglings.
· They store nuts in the ground in the autumn, but do not remember where they store them. They rely on scent to find them.
· They can be right or left-handed!
· Squirrels moult their coat twice a year, once after winter and then in the late summer before the weather gets colder again.
· They do not have ear tufts.
· They can live to 5-7 years of age.
· They have four fingers and five toes.
· The upper fur is mainly grey with mid-brown along the upper back, and chestnut over the flanks, limbs and feet. Their underside is white. The tail hairs are grey, banded with brown and black and a white fringe.
· They weigh 450-650g.
· Their body is 24–26cm long and their tail is 19-24cm in length.
· Squirrels live high in trees in a nest made from twigs, leaves and moss. This is called a dray.
· The dray may be in a hole in the tree or set against the trunk and branches.
· Pregnancy lasts 44 days and their young are called kittens.
· Kittens are born with their eyes closed, without teeth and with no hair. After about seven weeks they look just like small versions of their parents and are ready to leave the dray.
· There are generally 2 litters a year (rarely 3), with 3–7 kittens in each litter.
· Average densities in broadleaf areas are approximately 8-18 grey squirrels per hectare, and 0.1-1 per hectare in coniferous areas.
· They do not hibernate over winter, but may be less active when weather conditions are bad.
· They can hang upside down!
· They can swim!
· Grey squirrels do not appear to be susceptible to Squirrelpox virus, but may carry and transmit it.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ken_Chadwick

That concludes this article entitled – Squirrel Floods House

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